In this article, we will show that the Pythagorean approximations of Formula coincide with those achieved in the 16th century by means of continued fractions. Assuming this fact and the known relation that connects the Fibonacci sequence with the golden section, we shall establish a procedure to obtain sequences of rational numbers converging to different algebraic irrationals. We will see how approximations to some irrational numbers, using known facts from the history of mathematics, may perhaps help to acquire a better comprehension of the real numbers and their properties at further mathematics level.

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My name is Reidar Mosvold, and I am Associate Professor in Mathematics Education at University of Stavanger, Norway. This blog is my attempt to follow my field: mathematics education research. I hope you might find this site interesting too!

If you want to send me an e-mail rather than making direct comment to articles, you can reach me at: reidar.mosvold@uis.no